Cancer claims Cape League's Wylde

John Wylde, one of the movers and shakers in the Cape Cod Baseball League for 25 years and the force behind the Wareham Gatemen franchise, died early yesterday at Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

RUSS CHARPENTIER

John Wylde, one of the movers and shakers in the Cape Cod Baseball League for 25 years and the force behind the Wareham Gatemen franchise, died early yesterday at Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

The 70-year-old succumbed to the liver cancer that was diagnosed in the fall of 2007.

“Baseball has lost a real champion,” said Wareham general manager Tom Gay. “Especially the college players. John spent 25 years getting them to where they wanted to be.”

Wylde was bigger than life, and not just because of his 6-foot-9 frame. He was inducted into the Cape League Hall of Fame a month after his diagnosis and said at the time, in an interview conducted in his hospital room, that his goal was to complete his 25th season in the summer of 2008.

The goal seemed unlikely, but Wylde pulled it off with a lot of help, running the Gatemen and maintaining a presence by announcing Wareham’s games at Clem Spillane Field.

The summer of 2008 was a farewell tour of sorts for Wylde, but he completed the exhausting season with his usual low-key style and self-deprecating sense of humor.

“It’s a very sad day for the Cape Cod Baseball League, the Wareham organization and the Wylde family,” Cape League commissioner Paul Galop said. “I have lost a good friend.”

That was the consensus yesterday among much of the baseball world, especially at the college level.

“In baseball, most people have stats next to their name,” said Harvard University head baseball coach Joe Walsh, a pitching coach in Wareham for eight summers. “John’s stats would be goodness, sincerity, humbleness and a passion for the game. That’s why he stands out in our game and in our community.”

Wylde’s stamp on the Cape League is almost immeasurable. He and John Claffey took over a sinking Wareham franchise at the end of the 1983 season and quickly rebuilt the Gatemen into a perennial championship contender.

Notable players such as Mo Vaughn, Carlos Pena, Ben Sheets, Barry Zito, Justin Masterson, David Murphy and Daniel Bard all wore the Gatemen uniform and all developed a good relationship with Wylde.

Wylde lived a storybook life. A Harvard graduate, he spent one year as a lobsterman, played at a high level of amateur tennis around the world and once owned Howe Sports Data. His love of baseball and the statistical nuances inside the game drove his life, which centered around his wife Patty and the Gatemen.

His contributions to the league were numerous, especially his role in professionalizing the daily and weekly statistics. He supervised a team of official scorers and was meticulous in his record keeping.

“He was so helpful to so many people,” San Francisco Giants scout Glenn Tufts said. “He helped me so often over the years. I’d call him up and ask for a catcher’s steals-against percentage, or Carlos Pena’s home and away averages, and he’d have it. It’s just a sad day for all of us in baseball.”

Wylde was also a tireless worker and advocate for the league. Fans knew him mostly for his distinctive voice, but he served on multiple committees, all the while overseeing a first-class operation in Wareham.

“John was just the greatest guy to work with,” said former Wareham manager Don Reed, the second winningest manager in league history and a Cape League Hall of Famer.

“Anything you needed, he would go out and get it done. He held the interest of the players, coaches and the entire league at heart.”

Which is why league president Judy Walden-Scarafile can say it will take an army to replace him and have no one scoff.

“John’s irreplaceable,” she said. “He was the statistical guru, we all know that. But he was the first one to volunteer for committees. He wanted to participate in everything about the Cape Cod League. He loved college baseball. But the Cape League was John’s baby.”

Wylde took over the Gatemen after they forfeited the 1983 playoffs because of a lack of players, and with sleeves rolled up and a supportive bank account, turned them into a model franchise. The numerous improvements he made to Spillane Field made it an enjoyable place to both watch and play baseball.

Wylde was thrilled when he was voted into the Cape League Hall of Fame in 2007.

“It’s a marvelous thing,” he said. “You hope and pray that it will be offered you at some time. It’s a huge honor.”

There was never a doubt he was in charge in Wareham – at various times he was team president, general manager and treasurer – but he was also supported by loyal volunteers who seemed to sign on and never leave.

“I consider John a gift that was given to me 20 years ago that has kept on giving,” said Wareham vice president of publications Dotty Tamagini, a 20-year volunteer. “The Gatemen and the Cape League have lost a valuable asset and I have lost a cherished, dear friend.”

One sign of the regard Wylde was held in was the support he received when word of his cancer spread in the fall of 2007.

“The outpouring of kindness and support and wholehearted friendliness has been absolutely mind-boggling,” Wylde said at the time. “I would say, between cards, phone calls and e-mails, there have been 600 or 700 expressions of support.

“They range from the police chief in Wareham, who I am good friends with, to a parent of one former player who flew in from Texas to be with me in my hospital room for a couple of hours, then flew back.”

Former Gatemen kept in touch, including the Tampa Bay Rays’ Carlos Pena, who offered to fly Wylde down to the Rays’ 2008 home opener. Wylde was unable to make the trip.

Even people Wylde did not know tried to help.

“I had an e-mail from a dad whose son was in our baseball clinic,” Wylde said. “I didn’t know him or his son, but he said his son had cancer and talked about how our clinic helped him get over the nightmare of cancer.”

Throughout last summer, college coaches, scouts and members of the league paid their regards and said couched farewells.

“When he was first diagnosed, I was down at a Perfect Game showcase in Florida,” Walsh said. “There were a lot of coaches and major league scouts there. I brought a couple of cards hoping to get some of them to sign. I was there for five days, and each day I had to buy two or three more cards, so many wanted to sign them.”

In one respect, Wylde agreed he was lucky to be able to hear what he meant to people.